Yale Republican Makes Uphill Run For New Haven Council

NEW HAVEN – Paul Chandler carried some pretty heavy baggage when he walked into the common room of a suite on the Yale University campus one night last week.

Chandler is a 21-year-old Yale senior running on the Republican ticket for board of alderman in this overwhelmingly Democratic city. But he said most students on the liberal campus are willing to look beyond the R next to his name.

"I think it's a barrier until I say hello and start talking to them. Then they're no longer afraid of the Ted Cruzs of the world," he said of the senator from Texas who has been a force behind the federal shutdown.

Chandler is one of three Republicans running in New Haven this year; the party currently does not have a single representative on the city's 30-member board of aldermen. He is running in Ward 1, which is made up almost exclusively of Yale students, and where Republicans are outnumbered 20-1.

The GOP has not fielded a candidate in the ward for two decades. Still, Richter Elser, the chairman of the Republican Town Committee in New Haven and a Yale graduate himself, said he is optimistic about Chandler's chances, despite the stark voter registration disadvantage.

"But I'm a Republican in New Haven, which makes me an optimist at heart,'' Elser said. Although there are just 175 registered Republicans in Ward 1, he finds hope in the fact that there are about as many unaffiliated voters as there are registered Democrats.

A political newcomer who grew up in Westport, Chandler has taken his campaign to common rooms and dining halls across campus. Over Fresca and cookies last Tuesday night, he introduced himself to nearly two dozen of his fellow students who were crammed into the small room. His supporters brought voter registration forms so out-of-state students could sign up to vote in Connecticut.

In the beginning, the meeting was marked by long pauses reminiscent of an awkward first date. But soon enough, questions sparked a conversation.

One student wanted to know how he views the relationship between Yale and New Haven. "It should feel fluid,'' Chandler responded. "You should feel no different walking around campus than you do anywhere else in the city."

"Will the Green be safe before I graduate?" asked another. Chandler said he would take steps to encourage more activity on the Green, such as food trucks. "It's a beautiful space but it's underutilized now,'' he said.

A couple of times during the 45-minute meet-and-greet, Chandler was asked to address what he referred to in a guest column in the Yale Daily News last month as "the elephant in the room:" his decision to run as a Republican.

Chandler was politically unaffiliated until earlier this year, but he said the Republican Party's core value of responsible budgeting fits with his outlook. Registering with the GOP felt more "authentic" to him, he said.

One of the students who attended the meet-and-greet, Andrew Powell, said he liked Chandler's focus on fiscal restraint. "That's number one on my list,'' said Powell, a freshman from Arkansas, as he filled out a voter registration form.

Chandler's Republican affiliation made no difference to Powell, an unaffiliated voter: "It's what he says that matters.''

In an interview before the campaign stop, Chandler said the notion of a party doctrine does not apply to the local level, where candidates are more focused on front-yard services such as public safety and education than on ideology.

"Just throw away this whole Republican-Democrat divide we see at the federal level,'' Chandler said. "That's not really relevant to the community and that's not really relevant to what we want to do. If you can get past that and listen to what I have to say, I think you'd find there's a lot more that you agree with me on than disagree with me on."

Chandler identifies himself as a moderate. He expressed admiration for Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who visited Yale this month to see his son, Will Portman, a student at the school. The Republican senator made headlines this year when he came out in support gay marriage after Will Portman announced he was gay.

"It's not like I tout the conservative agenda in everything I do, nor do I dismiss the liberal agenda,'' Chandler said. "I take each issue individually. This position [on the board of aldermen] is supposed to be reflective of the constituency. Even if I disagree, there are certain things I know the entire student body would want and I have to reconcile those opinions and be able to advocate for everybody."

Ward 1 is traditionally held by a Yale student. The current occupant of the seat, Democrat Sarah Eidelson, graduated in 2012 and is seeking re-election.

Chandler said he would represent the "student voice" on the board of aldermen. "This position has been held for the past 34 years by a student representative,'' he said. "Sarah, for what it's worth, was a student. She no longer is and is no longer in touch with the constituency. That's really our fundamental premise that we're running this campaign on."